Alpha Phi Alpha, Langston University, and the Making of Baylor Coach Tony Greene

Baylor associate women’s basketball head coach Tony Greene has built a coaching career that stretches nearly three decades; From producing over 30 all Americans to five conference players of the year, Greene has dedicated his life to cultivating young talent. If you ask him, his roots trace back to Langston University in Oklahoma and his fraternity: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Greene, a Fall 1994 initiate of the Beta Kappa Chapter, always knew he was going to be a coach, aiming to coach at his alma mater, Roosevelt High School where he starred as point guard.

“I was 13 coaching six and seven-year-olds in flag football,” Greene said. “I loved seeing kids look me in the eye, wanting me to guide them.”

Once he got to Langston University life had different plans. There he met Dr. Ernest Holloway, a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha and president of the school at the time. Holloway hired Greene to be the first full time assistant coach in the school’s history. 

“Dr. Holloway actually gave me my first opportunity to become a full-time assistant coach,” Greene said. “He created a position for me. Being an Alpha put me around him often, and he believed in me before I believed in myself.”

It was after this moment, a moment that embodied the brotherhood and belief at the core of Alpha Phi Alpha, that Greene’s coaching journey truly began.

Greene has enjoyed a successful career that spans stints at all levels of college basketball, from lower major Southwestern Athletic Conference programs to Power-4 programs such as Ole Miss and currently Baylor University. At the core it all he enjoys developing young people.

“It’s all about serving others, and I think that has been the foundation of my success, he says.”

Greene, who grew up in a household with eight brothers and one sister, says his upbringing influenced his decision to join the fraternity.

As his career has progressed, Alpha has remained close to Greene as a developing tool and guiding force for his philosophies, comparing lessons learned from the fraternity and his coaching career, one being the power of influence being a factor in success.

“You have to have the power of influence if you’re going to lead people,” he said,” I think being an Alpha helps shape those skills of mine, of having the ability to lead a group of people.”

Not only has the fraternity’s values been rooted in his coaching style, Greene continues to embrace a servant attitude in his advocacy for black coaches an attitude forged through one humbling moment.

Greene remembers walking through the women’s Final Four early in his career wearing a Langston University polo and no one speaking to him.

 “I felt invisible,” he said. “It was because of the name on my shirt,  Langston University.”

As his career progressed through Toledo, Marquette, Ole Miss, and Baylor the energy changed. “Suddenly people wanted to pick my brain, grab breakfast, talk basketball. But nobody asked me those questions when I had Langston on my chest.”

It was that moment that Greene understood his calling as a coach went far beyond the hardwood.

Green is an active member of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and an advocate for amplifying HBCU coaches voices’.

As an affiliated member and coach, Greene enjoys speaking on his experiences for athletes aspiring to be apart of divine nine organization.

In a space dominated by Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and constant competition, Greene believes that college athletes deserve a college experience. 

In a space dominated by Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and constant competition, Greene believes college athletes still deserve a college experience, one grounded in mentorship, brotherhood, and growth beyond the scoreboard.

“I’ve won championships at every level,” Greene said. “But that’s not what I want people to remember. I want them to know I cared about my players and stayed in their lives.”

For Greene, the legacy extends past basketball. It’s the reflection of his faith, his family, and his fraternity, values that have shaped every season of his life.

When he walks into the Final Four now, wearing Baylor green, he carries Langston with him. He carries Alpha with him. And he carries every lesson that made him visible long before anyone knew his name.

This article was written for Watch The Yard by Nicklaus Utsey, a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington and a Fall 2022 initiate of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., by way of the Zeta Chi Chapter at UT Arlington. His work focuses on the intersection of sports, leadership, and the Black collegiate experience.